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William Keith Elliott, 86, of Natoma, Kansas passed  away on Saturday, July 25, 2015 at the Good Samaritan Society in Hays, Kansas.
Keith was born on the family farm north of Paradise, Kansas on February 10, 1929, the youngest of seven children of Gilbert and Grace (Winder) Elliott. He grew up on the farm and attended school in Paradise and Natoma, graduating from Natoma High School in 1947.
Keith met his future wife in high school and was united in marriage to Ida L. Albrecht on October 31, 1948, at Immanuel Lutheran Church north of Natoma. This union was blessed with four children; Pam, Mark, Jeff and Joel.
Keith was a farmer and stockman most of his life and, except for a short time in Harlan, Kansas, he and Ida have lived in the Natoma area. He served on the local school board from 1959 to 1972. He also served on the Rooks County Fair Board. In addition to farming, he was a high school and small college basketball referee for over 30 years. It was not uncommon for Keith to attend basketball games, either officiating or observing, three to four nights each week during the season.
Keith was an avid reader and a student of anything that piqued his curiosity. He felt strongly about quality education and expected his children to do their best work regardless of their chosen path in life. To him, anything worth doing was worth doing well, and when he  had an opinion about something, it was strongly held.
Keith loved to tease family, friends and sometimes total strangers, and he enjoyed a good practical joke. He cared deeply about his family, his cattle and the land, and he worked hard to provide for them all. He was a member of Peace Lutheran Church of Natoma.
Surviving family include his wife of 67 years, Ida of the home; daughter, Pam Pendergast (Michael) of Prairie Village, Kansas; three sons, Mark Elliott (Suzanne) of Guangzhou, China, Jeff Elliott (Barbara) of Hays, Kansas and Joel Elliott of Huntington Beach, California; six grandchildren and three great grandchildren.
He was preceded in death by his parents, four  brothers, Russell Elliott, Clair Elliott, Ray Elliott and Arvis Elliott; and two sisters, Julia Colby and Blossom Hutchcraft.
Celebration of Keith’s Life will be held at 10:30 AM Wednesday, July 29, 2015 at the Peace Lutheran Church in Natoma. Burial will follow at the Lutheran Cemetery in Natoma. Visitation will be at the Church from 9:00 AM to Service Time on Wednesday.
Memorials have been established with Peace Lutheran Church or Lutheran Hour. Contributions and condolences may be sent to Pohlman-Varner-Peeler Mortuary, who is in charge of these arrangements.
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